DeadWith A Chance
by Nahma Paque
Summary: A girl who is given multiple chances on Earth after her experience with death.


"You know what? Maybe I like life, and want to hang on just a little longer!" I yelled at the faintly pulsating angel that hovered in front of me. He sighed.

"Very well. I shall give you a day this time. Then I shall return on the morrow, and this time, you shall have to leave Earth forever." He left the usual way: shimmering, then fading away.

"Damn it! Why can't I have more time? Why did this even have to happen to me?" I sunk down into a squat against the familiar wall. I thought about what had happened to me since the fire.

_"Honey, are you okay? You just woke up." My mother, a soft, caring woman, stroked my forehead in a worried fashion._

_"Obviously. And where am I?" I asked, dazed from the previous events._

_"You are at the hospital. The doctors said you were going to be just fine, though you gave us a scare, doing what you did." She sighed, obviously from the relief of me living from doing whatever I did._

_"Hold on," I sat up, far too quickly, causing a wave of dizziness to come over me suddenly, "What exactly did I do? My memory's contorted and full of gaps."_

_My mom smiled, understanding of my brain's fuzziness, "You weren't breathing when we found you in the ashes of the house. We just couldn't get you out of there fast enough before the fire. Then, some search and rescue dogs found you," She sighed and went on with the story, something that was obviously difficult for her to tell, "You...You were just laying there, all limp and cold, when your breathing started up again, and you started talking. Not to me, but to someone else. Someone that wasn't there, that I couldn't see. You spoke with them for a while, then passed out. We took you here, and you've been sleeping ever since. Until now, of course." She looked at me, grateful for my survival. I looked out the window, contemplating the events that had taken place without my knowing._

_"Listen, are you hungry? I can get a smoothie or something, if you are." Mom stood and watched for my response._

_"Yeah, sure, whatever." I answered, turning my head back to the window. She left in a hurry towards the cafeteria. It was silent in the room, except for the receding footsteps that belonged to my mom._

_A inaudible buzz gradually filled the room, growing from a small sound to loud noise. It wasn't unpleasant, but I didn't enjoy it all that much either. I turned my head towards the source of the sound, which was a corner by the window. I watched with increasing curiosity as a angelic figure materialized in the corner teal armchair. It studied me for a moment, then spoke in a strong, but soft voice._

_"Hello. My name is of no matter, so don't bother with asking for it. I am here to take you away." It stared with large, black eyes._

_"Whoa, wait a second here. What do you mean, _take me away_?" I demanded. What did this guy want? Obviously to "take me away", but why and where?_

_"I understand this might be a big thing to ask of you, so I am going to clear it up a little. You are merely a ghost of your former self, living with humans like a living person. You mustn't continue to do so, as you no longer belong here. So you have to leave Earth and come up in the sky with me." It smiled, as if it had actually convinced me to do that._

_"No, no, no! I am _not_ dead! I am _not_ going to leave Earth and go live with you in the sky! Why are you asking me to do that? Besides, I barely freaking know you." I cried._

_"Fine. If you do not want to come just yet, I will leave, and in a month or so, I will come back, and take you whether you like it or not. Goodbye." He(I decided it was a he; girls were much gentler) shimmered and faded away, without leaving a trace. I checked the area that he had been, but there was nothing. There was no glitter, or anything that showed that he had been in my hospital room._

_My mom came back with a strawberry smoothie shortly after he left. I tried to tell her about it, but she smiled and told me it was a bad dream. How could I have fallen asleep for a minute, then wake up before she came back? Impossible._

_Anyway, I checked out of the hospital within the next week or so, went home, and completely forgot about the ghost for a month._

_He came back, and it started all over again. While I was at school. I hid in a janitors closet to do so. He gave two months this time, and shimmered, and faded away._

_Two months later, and he came. Again. Every time he gave me two more months. He was lenient on the staying factor. _

_These occurrences kept happening, every time at school, in the janitors closet. It became quite annoying, really, having to do that all the time. _

_All that led up to the current time, which was 2 years after the first meeting._

I was leaning against the wall, pondering this, when Mr. Porter, my science teacher, opened the door and looked at me with anger.

"What in the world? Ms. Miller, what are you doing in here?" he demanded. I stood slowly.

"Sorry. I was just, um, getting to know the equipment. It's never too much to know where the stuff is." I smiled weakly, hoping he would buy my lame excuse. He did. Stupid teacher.

"Well, I think you'd better get to class. Don't let me catch you again in the closet or you'll end up with a detention."

"Yes, Mr. Porter." I ran off in a hurry.

In the day that passed, I was so worried about disappearing suddenly that I didn't pay much attention in all my classes. One of my teachers was so annoyed with me she sent me to the principals office to get a yelling. Well, she didn't actually say that, but I could tell she was thinking it.

I wasn't paying any attention to him either. I ended up having to tell the teacher that she was going to get in trouble because she was wasting his time with her students.

The rest of the day passed undisturbed. So did the night and the next morning. I wasn't worried that he would attack me at some random time, because he usually showed up when I was totally alone.

I went to school as usual. The day passed, once again with a no-show. By that time, I was getting kind of freaked out. He never did that! Not that I wanted to see him, but he was never late.

_Why hadn't he come yet?_

That question kept running through my mind as the next few months ensued without him and the janitors closet.

Then, one day, he finally came.

My time on this Earth was finished.

Done.

Gone.

Whatever you want to call it. As I stood there, waiting, he spoke in that deep, lilting voice I had become ever so familiar with, more so than I had wanted or would ever want.

_"It is time, Marissa.__"_


End file.
